The King’s Tainted Mate
Chapter 26

This was so much better than his cloak that I had searched for like one mad when I needed it.

I inhaled and melted some more into my mate's embrace. Just a few more moments. I would let him go just as soon as I was calm enough. As soon as I had my fill. But then he ran his fingers through my hair and got my wolf purring and me biting back a moan. Perhaps I would need more than a few moments.

Having awakened to the feeling of loneliness and utter emptiness, I had longed for him. For my mate. The urge was as strong as my need to breathe and it had taken everything in me to keep from shifting and wandering through the palace hallways sniffing him out. I had however ended up sniffing my bed, because, for a very strange reason, I had been picking his scent on the sheets each morning I woke up. It was already fading, but I had still inhaled until it was no longer enough. The urge had become too strong and I needed more. His cloak that he had used to cover me while we headed to Dovah had been my next option, but I could not replace it. I had searched the entire room and when I came up empty, I simply broke down and cried. Liira and Astryn had rushed in to comfort me, but I was as a little girl who refused to be comforted until she got what she wished for.

Then he waltzed in with all his majestic glory and as if he knew what ailed me, opened his large perfect arms in an invitation I could not refuse even if I wished to. I did not think twice as I slipped in, shamelessly begging for him to hold me and when he did, all was right in my world. Well, not all, but every emotion that had overwhelmed me faded with each passing moment spent wrapped up in his arms.

No more words were spoken and I preferred it that way as I basked in the warmth and comfort of my mate. He'd carried me over to the couch and wrapped me in his arms as though I was some precious treasure that he did not wish to slip from his hands. "Have breakfast with me." I froze at his invitation, heart hammering in my chest. Surely he wasn't really- And was that a command or a request?

A moment later, I realized that neither mattered except that he actually wished to dine with me. He wished to dine with me? Why would he? I looked up, eyes seeking to search for answers, but then his gaze, that deep mysterious abyss of his captured my every being, making me forget what it was I sought.

"Will you have breakfast with me, Shyla?"

I knew what my answer should be. If only he would stop staring at me as though he was gazing right into my soul. If only my belly would not flutter so much at the sound of my own name from his lips or if only my wolf would stop howling in my head at the thought of being wanted by our mate.

"Isn't that a priviledge reserved for your queen?" The words burned even as they left my mouth, but I endured it. No matter the obvious longing in his tone, I did not wish to delude myself, thanks to a sensible part of me that fought through our bond. He had a chosen mate, a wife, a queen. A pregnant queen. And I was just the mate who carried his heir. Could I even call my child that? His heir? With Myrna pregnant too, I had no doubt she'd label my child as nothing but a bastard.

"I wish to dine with you!" Possessive in every way, his growl sent my heart melting in my chest and my resolve wavering. I attempted to pull away, to save myself from drowning in the pull of our bond and the allure of being wanted, but his gentle embrace got replaced by a tighter grip that left me trapped by him.

"L-Let me go." My feeble plea only served to plunge me into the very thing I wished to escape. His grip gentled and I wished it hadn't, because then his soft caresses that replaced it disarmed me in ways that left me at his mercy. Despite all of my troubles, I did not wish him to stop. Instead I longed for more. Much, much more.

"Please?" His plea tugged at something in me and I found myself nodding, giving in to him. I was right after all. I needed a few more moments... with him, and I did need to eat too.

"An excellent idea, your majesty!"

Liira? Had she been listening? Panic washed over me at the thought of having someone else witness my moment of weakness. I was no lady, but I knew very well that the position I was in with the king was not decent and I couldn't stomach being labelled a loose maiden even if I already carried his child.

I wiggled in his arms, desperate to be free of him. "Thank you, your higness for..." I blushed when I realized that there was no decent word to describe what had just happened between us. "...I feel fine now."

"No." My face paled at his protests and I anticipated looks of reproach, but Liira only strolled in, a wide smile pasted on her face. Astryn was equally grinning from ear to ear as she trailed the older nurse. But not even that could put me at ease.

"Stop trying to escape from me, Shyla." His warm breath and his raspy command caressed my insides and left me frozen in the very position I sought to get out of. How could a bunch of mere words weaken me this much? My body burned with desire and I wished for nothing more than to lean back into his chest and letting him caress me in every place that was screaming to be touched by him.

"All better dear?" I attempted to escape my mate's grip again, but just as before, it only got tighter and I could only blush at Liira who flashed me an approving smile. She approved? "It's good to know that you are still good at some things."

"I-I am?" I mustered some semblance of composure as I frowned at Liira, wondering what was this thing I was supposedly good at.

"Not you dear." My frown only deepened when I realized that Liira's gaze was set on my mate. How was she able to address him so casually? "Now, unless you wish to portray yourself as some uncultured beast and not a gentleman, I suggest you let her go and get changed before your meal." She could also order him around? I marvelled as my mate's grip loosened and he actually let me go without so much as a word.

"I will see you in a bit, my lady." He gave me a little bow that sent my belly fluttering and as if he was intent on proving Liira wrong, he bowed impossibly lower than I had seen any of his own people bow to him. "Grandmother."

Wait, grandmother? Even when there was now a decent distance between me and my mate after gaining my freedom, I felt myself blush all over again.